B L Saraf
Civil Society members and some separatists in Kashmir are up to it again – being selective in protestations . A teenager boy Faizan Sofi has been detained by the local police in Srinagar ,allegedly , on stone pelting charges and has been lodged in a remand home , on the orders of competent court . They are agitating for the release of the boy , up gradation of the juvenile justice law and an end to the juvenile detention in Kashmir. Colin Gonsolvez , Human Rights activist from Delhi has been roped in . The lawyer activist has found too many faults in the state Juvenile Justice law and condemned the State Government for ill treating the young offenders .
Call it a quirk of fate or anything else ,contemporaneously , a similar situation has developed in our neighbouring country . In Islamabad , Pakistan , a teenage Christian girl , Rimsha Masih , has been detained by the police on the charges of blasphemy .The girl , reportedly , is a minor . And what goes in the media , she has been detained in the jail on a highly technical ground , which could easily be sorted out if not ignored – whether she or her mother is authorised to engage services of a lawyer for her . Having seen the fate Salman Taser met , in not so distant past , by taking up a cause of a similarly charged Christian female and the role of law enforcing machine nary in that country, a bipartisan group of six U S senators asked”President Zardari to take immediate action to release Rimsha and also address the problem of religious intolerance against Hindus .” Expressing serious concern on how minorities are being treated in Pakistan , they went on to write him ” the recent cases of religious discrimination , including that of Rimsha Masih underscored the worsening situation for religious minorities in the country .”
Having studied a bit of law and continuing to be a student of the subject , I have no hesitation in saying that police detention of both Faizan and Rimsha , being juveniles , is bad and against law. The juvenile justice law abhors police detention of a juvenile who has come in conflict with law and completely rules out all kinds of punishment, no matter how serious an offence the juvenile delinquent is alleged to have committed . In fact , the theory of punishment is unknown to the juvenile law . To such an extent the concern raised by the Kashmir civil society and others is justified . I t is also true that that state Juvenile Justice Act is totally out dated and is in urgent need of revamping , to bring it in tune with the law applicable to the rest of country . But then, in case of Faizan a semblance of law being followed is discernable ; because he has not been detained in the police custody but has been lodged in a juvenile remand home in Harvaan . Rimsha does not have that luxury . One wishes the human rights activist from Delhi takes up the cause of poor girl child being illegally treated in our neighbouring country, as well. Never the less , it does not mean all is well with our government when it comes to the treatment of minor offenders . We have seen number of cases where in dealing with the teenaged offendes its attitude has bordered on callousness . It has to be changed , and no effort should be spared to bring round the state to mend the attitude .
Protest raised over Fiazan’s detention in Kashmir by people there and ominous silence on the treatment meted out to Rimsha in Pakistan raise couple of points that need to be noticed here . Well, some may explain silence on geographical considerations . But then we know that these geographical limitations disappear when Kashmiris find some of their co – religionists coming under real or imaginary grief any where in the world – be it Burma, Europe , Timbuktu or a God forsaken hamlet . Remember , they are in habit of taking cue from that country on any pretext, No body is permitted to argue that Rimsha be let of if proved to have committed the offence she is charged with . So is the case with Faizan Sofi. The activists should ensure that both are treated similarly in their trials. And our hearts should bleed for both if treated unfairly in their trial and tribulations . Indeed, it is too much to expect objectivity and even handedness from the Kashmir civil society . We witness it in the cacophony raised over the number of yatris and period of duration of Amarnath Yatra to the holy cave shrine. Ecological concerns are being selectively put forth to scuttle the yatra while deliberately turning a blind eye to the real vandalization of the green forests , saffron growing lands, meadows , flora and fona. Not to mention the felling of majestic chinaar. All has happened at the hands of the locals with connivance of the local officials .
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions Judge.)
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